Page 36 of Beneath the Sapphire Sky

He swiped a finger through some semi-set icing, testing the flavour.

“You’re going to eat that.”

Dante grinned to himself and swiped a big line down the centre of the large, star-shaped biscuit and pretended to go for a second one.

“Errgh!” A wadded-up tea towel hit him square in the back of the head. He turned, rubbing his head. “What did you do that for?”

Angel glowered at him. “Eat the one you mutilated.”

Dante forced the shit-eating grin that wanted to erupt to stay hidden. He was in too good a mood this morning to be fooled by Angel’s surliness.

“Why Michelangelo, are you worried I’ll mess up your pretty little cookies? Did you make them for your turtle friends?”

Using his full name had the desired effect. Angel hated that name with a passion. He rounded the stainless steel bench and grabbed Dante in a headlock before he could escape, and scruffed his knuckles into the top of Dante’s head.

“Ow! Stop it!”

Dante couldn’t stop laughing. He twisted and pulled but couldn’t get out of his older brother’s grip. Angel had done thisto him since he was a tiny kid and with Angel being bigger than him, he could never seem to get away.

He slapped at Angel, which only made him tighten his grip. “Get out of it. Let me go.”

Angel’s laughter matched his own. “Never, Hell Child.”

“At least I’m not a mutant turtle.”

Angel leaned down and planted a massive, noisy kiss on the top of his head and shoved him out of the way.

“Get out of my kitchen. You’re a pain in my ass.”

Dante danced back out of Angel’s reach and rubbed at the top of his head. Ria watched with a huge grin from the doorway. He loved stirring his brothers about their names. Thank heaven his parents hadn’t completed the foursome and called him Donatello.

That would’ve been too painful to bear, particularly as a teen.

His mother had been obsessed with the renaissance masters and named her sons accordingly. She hadn’t known about the Ninja Turtles until much later. It was lucky his brothers were blessed in the looks department; it had kept the teasing to a minimum.

And one of the reasons Angel had insisted they call himAngelearly on.

When they were all together, though, with the Crossing having a large Italian population, they all knew and ribbed him about it mercilessly. Valeria had been lucky enough to be named after an actress, preferring Ria to any other iteration, particularly Val.

And him? He’d been named after Dante’sInferno.

His mother had been on a huge poetry binge when she’d been pregnant with him, and he’d been named after the book she’d been in the middle of.

“Still better than a reptile,” he muttered pointedly.

Leo pushed past Ria into the kitchen, his phone held out. “Dude, where’s your phone? Belle’s been trying to get you.”

Raphael leaned against the doorway behind Ria. “What’s going on?”

Dante almost smiled at the shivers that ran over his skin and pooled as nerves in his gut. He took the phone and shrugged. “Hey, B!”

Leo’s frown hadn’t left his face. “I don’t know, Raph. She sounds really upset.”

The smile drained from Dante’s face at the choked sadness echoing down the line at him. He sent a distraught look at his family.

“Shit. I’m coming.”

He tossed the phone back to Leo and spotted a set of keys on the small rolling bench near the door.

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